Led Zeppelin II
This page is about the Led Zeppelin II recording sessions Led Zeppelin II Overview: Led Zeppelin's second album, recorded at various studios during the course of their mid-1969 tours of North America and Britain from April through August 1969. Pictures of the multi-track master mixdown included in the "Super Deluxe" book show that the album was completed (i.e. fully mixed) by 1969.08.25. The album was released on 1969.10.22 in the USA, and on 1969.10.31 in the UK. N.B. All information is taken from the 2014-2015 "Super Deluxe" books (hereafter abbreviated "SD") included with the remastered albums, unless otherwise stated. Known Recording/Mixing Dates: * 1969.04.10: ** "But What Is and What Should Never Be" and "You Need Love" (later "Whole Lotta Love") at Olympic Sound Studios, No. 1, Barnes, London, England, UK ** Engineers: George Chkiantz; Keith ** {This date is attested by a picture of the multi-track tape box, from a fan's personal collection; see 1969.04.14 and 1969.04.19 below} * 1969.04.14: ** "La La," "You Need Love" (later "Whole Lotta Love") and "But What Is and What Should Never Be" at Olympic Sound Studios, No. 1, Barnes, London, England, UK ** Engineers: George Chkiantz; Roger ** {This date is attested by a picture of the multi-track tape box, from a fan's personal collection, and by the SD book; "La La" officially released as "La La Rough Mix"*; see 1969.04.19 below} * 1969.04.19: ** "You Need Love" (later "Whole Lotta Love") and "But What Is and What Should Never Be" at Olympic Sound Studios, No. 1, Barnes, London, England, UK ** Engineer: George Chkiantz ** {Officially released as "Whole Lotta Love Mix with Vocal" and "What Is and What Should Never Be Mix with Vocal"} * 1969.05.06: ** "Moby Dick" at Mirror Sound Studio, Los Angeles, California, USA** ** Engineer: Chris Huston ** {Officially released as "Moby Dick Track"*} * 1969.05.21: ** "Heartbreaker" at A&R Studio, New York City, New York, USA ** Engineer: Eddie Kramer ** {Officially released as "Heartbreaker Mix with Vocal"} * 1969.05.22: ** Unknown (likely "Heartbreaker") at A&R Studio, New York City, New York, USA ** Engineer: Eddie Kramer*** * 1969.06.01: ** "Ramble On" at Groove Sound Studio, New York City, New York, USA ** Engineer: Eddie Kramer ** {Officially released as "Ramble On Mix with Vocal"} * 1969.06.25: ** "Thank You" and "Living, Loving Maid (She's Just a Woman)" at Morgan Studios, London, England, UK ** Engineer: Andy Johns ** {Officially released as "Thank You Track" and "Living, Loving Maid (She's Just a Woman) Track"****} * 1969.07.24: ** "Bring It All Home" (later "Bring It on Home")***** at Atlantic Studios, New York City, New York, USA ** {Officially released as "Bring It on Home Mix"} * -- The track-listing in both the booklet for the standard edition (p.14) and the SD book (p.83) designate "Moby Dick" as "Track" and "La La" as "Rough Mix"; however, taken into consideration with Page's handwritten notations on p.85 of the SD book, as well as comments made in various interviews, it seems that the descriptions for these two companion tracks were switched in error. ** -- There seems to be some confusion as to the specific location of this studio; Chris Huston claims that there was no Mirror Sound Studio on the west coast at the time. It is possible that initial work was done with Huston at one studio, and then the "Mirror Sound" name became attached to the tape box at a later point. *** -- This date is confirmed by studio receipts; it's safe to assume that "Heartbreaker" was worked on this day as well. **** -- A competing title for this track (see below) was "Livin' Lovin' Wreck"; it's possible that the track may have been known by that title at the time this backing track was mixed. ***** -- This working title (with "all") may have simply been a misheard "on." Olympic Sound Studios Reel: (This picture was uploaded to http://www.royal-orleans.com by user Black Swan, from his personal collection. He claimed that it was used in the case against Led Zeppelin which resulted in partial credit being given to Willie Dixon for "Whole Lotta Love.") Bootlegged Tracks: * The Led Zeppelin II Multi-tracks -- Around 2003, fragments of the multi-tracks to "Whole Lotta Love," "Heartbreaker" and "Ramble On" were leaked; fast-forward to 2012, and the full multi-track tapes for those three songs, plus "What Is and What Should Never Be," were released by Empress Valley as part of The Making of "Led Zeppelin II". In 2013, the multi-tracks were released again (this time free-of-charge) in 24-bit/88kHz format as part of a collector's share. Category:Whole Lotta Love